Recent cyber attacks have raised questions about the security of government and corporate computer systems.
A top U.S. official warned that the technical sophistication of cybercriminals is swamping the world’s ability to cope and demanding an accelerated cross-border campaign to combat the security threat.
Continue reading… “Cybercrime is swamping the world’s ability to cope warns U.S.”
Penn State tops the list for public in-state colleges.
No college wants to top these rankings. Today the Education Department unveils a website on which it is publishing for the first time lists identifying the nation’s most expensive colleges.
Mark Zuckerberg is worth $18 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has become richer than Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, thanks to GSV Capital Corp’s stake buy which values the popular social networking site at about $70 billion. Earlier this week GSV Capital Corp bought 225,000 shares in Facebook at an average price of $29.28 each.
Continue reading… “Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg now richer than Google founders”
Loud things can come in small packages.
While normally a species measuring in at only around 2 millimeters in length might be easily overlooked, one tiny freshwater-dwelling critter has found a way to turn peoples’ heads. Researchers studying ‘water boatman’ (Micronecta scholtzi), an aquatic insect native to Europe, say that the minuscule species takes the mantle as the world’s loudest animal relative to its body size. The hard-to-see insect is capable of producing a song that reaches a whopping 99.2 decibles — roughly the equivalent to the sound of a motorcycle. What may be more surprising, however, is just how water boatman make their ‘song’.
Continue reading… “World’s Loudest Animal is a tiny insect, says study”
A new memory system could change the whole computer market.
The age of flash memory might be nearing a close even before those sexy SSDs really hit the mainstream market, as IBM has just announced that they’ve figured out a way to make phase-change memory a commercial reality within five years. What’s in it for you? Well, how does accessing your data about a hundred times faster sound?
Continue reading… “Ultra-fast phase-change memory coming to a computer near you”
Future Vegas partygoers may find themselves cruising the strip in driverless rides.
Are you sick of your long commute to work and wish you could take a nap or read the web while on the road? Soon you may be able to obtain a license for a car that can drive itself. While such a vehicle may be a few years off, the state of Nevada is getting legislation in place that will allow for the implementation of hands free driving…
About 700 job reductions at HSBC will mainly affect UK branch offices.
The wave of lay-offs hitting banks gathered pace on Thursday. Thousands more job losses are set to hit retail businesses and market divisions while lenders fight off a limp economic recovery, trading woes and tougher regulation.
Continue reading… “Wave of lay-offs hitting banks and thousands more job losses to come”
Qingdao Haiwan Bridge
The 26.4 minle long Qingdao Haiwan Bridge would easily span the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. (Pics and video)
Microsoft rationalized the patent as a way to answer to government requests for surveillance and wiretapping.
Microsoft is seeking a patent for technology that lets it eavesdrop on VoIP calls, weeks after Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion.
Continue reading… “‘Legal Intercept’ – Microsoft seeks wiretapping technology patent for Skype”
The divide between states gaining and losing their younger populations.
When the Beatles song “When I’m Sixty-Four” was released in 1967, many baby boomers adhered to the mantra, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” Now the boomers are fully ensconced in advanced middle age, and the oldest of them are beginning to cross into full-fl edged senior-hood, as the first boomer turned age 65 last January. Some 80 million strong and more than one quarter of the U.S. population, baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) are a still a force to be reckoned with, even as they have all crossed the age-45 marker. Along with their elders, the large and growing older American population presents significant future challenges for federal government programs such as Social Security and Medicare. State and local social services and infrastructure needs will also change in communities across the nation as the population ages.
Continue reading… “2010 census trends: Uneven aging and ‘younging’ in the U.S.”
Speech recognition searches may take time for web users to get used to.
Asking a computer out loud for information is seen as a futurist idea right out of science fiction. But Google is trying to change that. They are adding speech recognition to its search engine which will release technology that will allow any browser, website, or app to use the feature.
Continue reading… “Google adds speech recognition to its search engine”
Alabama tornado 2o11
Epic floods, massive wildfires, drought and the deadliest tornado season in 60 years are ravaging the United States. Scientists warn that climate change will bring even more extreme weather than we seen in the last century.
Continue reading… “Extreme weather ravaging U.S. could worsen, warn experts”